GHOSTS BEHIND THE SUN : TAV FALCO / PANTHER BURNS

Up river from New Orleans, past the ports of Natchez and Vicksburg, looms Memphis – metropolis of the Midsouth and city of murder, necrolatry and blues. Memphis’s muse hangs in the air like crows circling in menacing descent with sardonic eye winking at the tail draggers below...

Tav Falco's sprawling study of Memphis begins with the Civil War massacre at Fort Pillow, the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 and the grisly murders of the Harp Brothers. Falco traces these legends of Reconstruction-era Memphis to an equally brutal twentieth century underworld – Beale Street kingpin Jim Canaan, Edward Crump's political machine, the Dixie Mafia, and others. Also included are revelatory dialogues concerning the city’s many music legends, from rockabilly icons Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Charlie Feathers to more underground figures such as Jim Dickinson and country blues wailer Jessie Mae Hemphill. Interwoven with these accounts is an autobiographical history of Falco’s own time in Memphis, including his involvement with performance art ensemble Insect Trust, working with pop/rock maverick Alex Chilton, and the formation of his seminal rock and roll band, Panther Burns. With over 80 illuminating photographs, mostly previously unseen originals by Falco. 312 pages, illustrated throughout.

"A wonderfully dense, ceaselessly entertaining trawl through the history of Memphis' cultural underground and criminal demimonde. A book populated by hipsters, grifters and dreamers, that vividly brings every moment of magic, inspiration and madness to life."
– Bob Mehr, music critic Memphis Commercial Appeal

TAV FALCO is an American-born musician/performer, film-maker, and photographer. He has led the psychedelic rock-and-roll group Tav Falco's Panther Burns since 1979. Their first LP, “Behind The Magnolia Curtain” (1980), featuring Alex Chilton, is now regarded as a rock and roll classic. Panther Burns still tour the world and release records regularly. Memphis has long been Falco’s adopted home town and spiritual sanctuary.

TAV FALCO READING TOUR NOVEMBER 2011
(Accompanied by Erik Morse)

9. San Francisco – City Lights
10. Los Angeles – Stories
11. Austin – End Of An Ear
12. Memphis – Goner Records
13. New Orleans – Euclid Records
16. Brooklyn – Powerhouse Arena

DECEMBER 1. Memphis – Burke's Books

PANTHER BURNS US TOUR NOVEMBER 2011

9. San Francisco – Thee Parkside
10. Los Angeles – EchoPlex
11. Austin – Emo's
12. Memphis – Hi-Tone Lounge
13. New Orleans – Siberia
14. New Haven – Café Nine
15. New York – Rodeo Bar

GHOSTS BEHIND THE SUN is Volume One of

MONDO MEMPHIS